“I was amazed at the variety of (people) selected – from professors to business people to elected officials. I even had a three-time Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist in my seminar group,” Stumpf told the Rant. “But what I was equally impressed with was the thoughtfulness and variety of opinions of the military and intelligence students themselves. While many shared common experiences, like deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, they had a healthy discussion and debate on a variety of issues that we all discussed.”

According to a press release from the U.S. Army War College, forum guests received a daily presentations and engaged in discussions about various national security issues. Featured speakers included Ambassador Ryan Crocker, New York Times Chief Washington Correspondent David Sanger, former Navy Undersecretary Janine Davidson, and Harvard Professor of Government Jeffry Frieden.

Stumpf was nominated for inclusion in the program by Sanford native Mark Hamilton (full disclosure: the author of this post is related to Hamilton by marriage), who on Friday graduated from the Army War College with a master’s degree in strategic studies.